UCLA Math Crime Modeling Research Helps Fight Crime in California

Submitted by anna on Tue, 2011-08-16 15:16

In California the Santa Cruz Police Department has adopted a new program in predictive policing that uses sophisticated mathematical modeling developed by a UCLA research team led by UCLA Mathematics. In the same way that earthquake models predict aftershocks, the model predicts "hotspots" where future crimes, such as burglaries and car thefts, are likely to occur. In Santa Cruz, law enforcement deployed patrols to targeted crime hotspots, which resulted in a 27 percent drop burglaries in one area compared to the same month a year ago. Other cities including Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles are considering adopting predictive policing as law enforcement agencies contend with scarce resources and budget cuts. The academic research team includes UCLA Math Assistant Adjunct Professor Martin Short, former UCLA Math postdoc George Mohler (Santa Clara University), UCLA anthropologist Jeffrey Brantingham, UCLA Statistics Associate Professor Rick Paik Schoenberg and UC Irvine criminologist George Tita.